Old short story and art, updated.
Sefun the dragonslayer had heard of the illusive bronze dragon that lived on the coast, and he had also heard of the pair of spiraling horns that grew from it's head. Sefun decided that he needed to start bringing down bigger, mightier, more fearsome dragons to uphold his reputation for keeping his homeland safe from such dreadful, meddlesome beasts, and such horns would make a fine trophy and centerpiece in his collection.
Over the course of three months Sefun rode aimlessly through the land believed to be the Dragon's territory, until one day while watering his horse, Sefun heard heavy yet cautious footsteps moving in a large clearing ahead of him. All the forest birds had gone quiet. Sefun's horse froze, ears forward, as Sefun slowly placed his mithril helmet on his head. The silence in the forest was deafening, and Sefun felt the adrenaline surge through his body as he reached for his sword. The eerie silence was broken as Sefun slid his dragonslaying sword Feuerdeth out of its sheath. At that moment a thunderous, primal roar split the air and shook the very ground. Flocks of birds and woodland animals exploded from the trees, letting a downfall of leaves, branches, and feathers litter the forest floor. Sefun's horse let out a terrified whinny and bolted away into the deep, twisting woods.
The silence returned. Moments felt like hours as Sefun stood his ground, waiting for his quarry to make its move. The only sound he could hear was the pounding in his ears. Thoughts and fears flitted though his head. He had lost his battle horse, and never before had he encountered a beast with such a roar. Could this dragon be a grand one? Why is it that this dragon will not show itself? Had it fled? Cowardice? For fear of being slain? Or is it that this dragon was waiting, plotting an ambush? The beast dares not to challenge the mighty Sefun?
The maddening silence remained unbroken, as there was not a single movement in the woods. Sefun could bear it no longer. His anger swelled and he could taste dragon's blood on his tongue. He slowly stepped forward and crept through the brush until he had a good view of the clearing. He scanned the area again, but still saw nothing. Surely this monster could not hide in a clearing! He glanced up to check the position of the sun, and jumped back in shock when he saw the elaborately crested head of the dragon looming above him. This dragon was far larger than he had been told, and to his horror he noted that its body was heavily armored in mature, almost metallic scales. The dragon slowly blinked its luminous aquamarine eyes, and for a moment Sefun thought he recognized a look of sorrow on its scaled face.
It's spinal frill relaxed, the finlike ears swiveled forward, and the Dragon spoke.
"Why have you come to kill me, dragonslayer?" It asked in a booming, yet unmistakably feminine voice.
Sefun stuttered, choking on his words.
The Dragon continued as her eyes moved over Sefun's body. "I see that your armor and shield are adorned with the hornlets of very young dragons. They could have posed no threat to you, and their meat is quite unpalatable. Tell me, why did you take their lives? For what purpose did they die?"
Sefun remained in frozen silence.
"I am a living being, my insignificant humanoid friend. I am a Guardian of the Wild and I uphold the Virtue of Nature. I am a being far grander than yourself, and this is why you mean to kill me. You aim to prove yourself powerful by taking my life. You mean to give yourself purpose by destroying something you don't understand, and therefore fear. You wish to achieve power by destroying strength. You intend to parade back to your land with a meaningless trophy torn from my body, which would be left to rot in the sun. Years thereafter your kin will come to this world I was here to protect, multiply, and destroy everything so far as a Dragon's eye can see. You care nothing for the balance of the Earth, life itself, or discovering True Meaning. Never had I come across a creature so blind, until the day I experienced mankind."
The look of horror on Sefun's face had turned to one of agitation.
"So wasteful, so harmful, so utterly uncaring is your kind. The only explanation I can reason for this behaviour is that your race is a sickness, spawned with only one purpose; to blindly, yet knowingly destroy the world in a self-destructive fury. A pity that such a wise and beautiful world should wither in the shadow of ignorance."
The wiry Dragoness backed into the grassy clearing with movements comparable to those of a great cat. She braced her taloned feet and coiled her muscled neck back into a defensive pose. A deathly expression came across her face and her eyes opened wide.
"So destroy me, you insidious, infectious epitome of ignorance!!! Come, brave slayer of virtue! Come into the battle of your puny lifetime and raise your sword to Ahzurielahlelurah of the Ael'Rah!!! COME HAVE YOUR RECOGNITION!!!
Ahzurielahlelurah's challenging snarl widened as Sefun sounded a battle cry and charged into the clearing.
Only one will live to tell the tale of this meeting.
All this here crap is © Amber Rose 2005.